Balancing Security & Efficiency for Service Desk Support
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As organizations increasingly embrace remote work and rely on remote support, IT service desk technicians face the crucial task of ensuring security and data privacy to protect their organizations against the growing sophistication of cyber threats.
However, in some cases, implementing security measures can impact efficiency. For example, requiring additional steps or authentication processes before accessing specific resources or systems can slow the overall support process.
However, it's important to note that compromising security for efficiency can lead to severe consequences, such as data breaches. Therefore, IT professionals must strike a balance between security and efficiency to ensure the safety and privacy of sensitive information while also providing timely support to end-users.
This blog will share best practices to help IT service desks achieve this critical balance. Here are five tips for IT support professionals to deliver secure remote support while maximizing efficiency:
1 – Implement risk-based access controls
Grant technicians access to resources based on the level of risk associated with their role or the device they use. This approach ensures that technicians have minimal access to perform their tasks, per the principle of least privilege.
Granular permission controls offer the flexibility to manage user access and permissions according to your organization's requirements. For example, IT admins can set role-based, user-based, computer-based, or group-based permissions and limit access to certain features and actions accordingly.
2 – Streamline the authentication process for support tools
Two-factor authentication is an essential security measure that adds an extra layer of protection to your account and ensures that only authorized personnel can access end-user devices. Enabling 2FA requires users to provide a one-time verification code generated by an authenticator app and their password. This ensures that even if an attacker obtains a user's password, they still need access to the user's mobile device to gain entry.
IT admins should also implement Single Sign-On (SSO) or password managers to simplify the authentication process for users. This enhances security by reducing the chances of weak or reused passwords and saves time by enabling users to access multiple resources with a single set of credentials. Using SSO also enables login policies like 2FA to apply uniformly to all applications. Additionally, it can automate much of the account management associated with onboarding and off-boarding.
3 – Automate routine tasks, consolidate tools and simplify workflows
Automating routine tasks, such as monitoring, software updates, log collection, and reporting, can minimize manual error while freeing up technicians' time, allowing them to focus on more complex issues and deliver faster support.
Outdated software can expose your organization to security vulnerabilities. Ensure that remote support tools, workstations, and applications are regularly updated and patched to minimize potential threats.
Additionally, consolidating multiple tools and leveraging a unified platform for various needs improves efficiencies and reduces security exposure. Adopting easy and streamlined support workflows that minimize the time to respond to and resolve end-user requests makes the support experience superior not just for the end user, but also for the technician.
4 - Ensure compliance with data privacy regulations
IT service desks must ensure tools comply with data privacy regulations (e.g., SOC 2, GDPR, CCPA) to protect sensitive information, build customer trust, and avoid costly penalties. Implement policies and procedures to maintain compliance and conduct regular audits.
Logging is a crucial aspect of maintaining audit and compliance within an organization. By keeping a detailed log of events, organizations can easily track and identify any suspicious or unauthorized activity that may occur. This can help prevent potential security breaches or other violations and ensure that the organization complies with relevant regulations and standards.
5 - Educate remote support staff on best practices
Regularly train IT service desk technicians on the latest security best practices and efficient troubleshooting techniques. This will ensure they are well-equipped to handle security and efficiency challenges.
Follow best practices & use secure and compliant remote support tools
By implementing the above-mentioned best practices, IT professionals can maintain a secure remote support environment while delivering the fast and efficient support that users expect. Achieving this balance will not only enhance the organization's overall security posture but also contribute to increased productivity and user satisfaction. Choose the right remote support tool that meets your organization’s business and security needs.
Splashtop's commitment to online security and data privacy is evident in its comprehensive features designed to help IT service desk technicians provide secure and efficient remote support. By leveraging SSO integration, two-factor authentication, granular permission controls, simplified workflows, and other advanced security and productivity features, you can maintain a high level of security without impacting the quality and efficiency of your remote support services.
For example, you can configure Splashtop to automatically send logs in real-time to the customer's central log management server (e.g., a SIEM like Splunk). Alternatively, Splashtop APIs can retrieve logs from Splashtop and archive them programmatically. Either way, you can ensure your team maintains proper logs without impacting efficiency.
Stay ahead of the curve with Splashtop. Learn more about Splashtop solutions for IT service desks, or contact us now to get started with Splashtop.
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